


He's My Friend

by fairyminseok



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Childhood Friends, Cliche, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Vampires, sappy shit be here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 16:39:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7060690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyminseok/pseuds/fairyminseok
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i> He’s my friend</i> Baekhyun thinks, and he’s right. Sehun is his friend, his <i>best friend</i>. And Baekhyun, who’s known Sehun since he was a teething tiny vampire, knows that he shouldn’t be feeling <i>this way</i> about someone that’s just a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's My Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the sebaekingdom exchange!  
> Thank you to Ash for making this readable~

***

Sehun is small when Baekhyun meets him.

A tiny first grader with sleepy eyes and soft hands, intelligent and enthusiastic but extremely shy, he's normal in nearly every way. His eyes light up around the things he likes: legos, cars, food, action movies.

The only abnormality is that Sehun has a muzzle.

"He's teething," Baekhyun overhears Sehun's Mother telling their teacher on Sehun's first day, pale, smooth hands resting protective on Sehun's shoulders. "A natural stage in a young vampire's life."

Baekhyun doesn't understand much of what she says, but he does understand the word _vampire._

He's never met a vampire before, only heard of them. They don't get a lot of vampires in their neighbourhood, in their school district. _They cause problems_ , one of Baekhyun's classmate can be heard saying. Baekhyun doesn't understand until he's older that she's been fed this fear through her parents, been upholding someone else's beliefs.

Baekhyun isn't scared of Sehun like the other children are, doesn't shy away from him when he tries to come near, doesn't shiver when he speaks, when he tries to make friends.

"Vampires are just like other people right?" He asks his Mother over dinner. "Safe?"

"A vampire is an individual," Baekhyun's Mother says gently as she pushes his peas towards him, fork scraping across his plate. "Their safety is up to whether or not they want to be a safe person, just like human beings. Now eat your food.”

"I hate peas," Baekhyun answers, pout childish.

He wonders if Sehun hates peas.

***

"I can't eat peas," Sehun tells him, voice muffled behind his muzzle. He's sitting cross-legged, posture perfect with his hands folded neatly in his lap. Baekhyun is lounging, lazy, legs folded comfortably beneath him, resting on his outstretched hand. "I can't eat any human food."

Baekhyun nods, feeling sad. Sehun looks confused, but it's hard to tell with the leather covering his nose and mouth.

"You'll never be able to have cake," Baekhyun says in a sorrowful voice, remembering the beautiful ice cream cake he'd had for his last birthday.

"Mama gets me flavoured drinks sometimes," Sehun says slowly. He speaks with a lisp, and it's unfortunate paired with the muffling of the muzzle. Baekhyun feels a kind of sympathy for him; he doesn't understand but he wants to, wants to help.

"Why do you have a muzzle?" Baekhyun asks, lacking tact; something he never does quite develop as the years go by.

"I bite people sometimes," Sehun answers, monotone and sad, the spark in his eyes growing dull. "Until my fangs grow I need to wear this or I could hurt people. Once I bite I can't stop."

Baekhyun is fascinated.

"Once you're older can you bite people and not hurt them?" Baekhyun nods along, feeling smart for following along, for understanding just a little. He hopes he grows up to be this way: understanding and smart.

"Only if they want me to," Sehun says seriously. "I use the juice boxes now."

"You can bite me if you want," Baekhyun offers, and he doesn't really know what biting entails, or if it hurts, but he wants to be Sehun's friend.

Since no one else in their class wants to be.

***

At snack time, Baekhyun misses Sehun. He drinks away from them, needing to take the muzzle off to drink, and Baekhyun wishes he could stay. He wants to be with Sehun all the time, wants to speak to him about their shared movie love, about the little things that make vampires and humans different.

Baekhyun has friends, but they're mean -- not as interesting-- and they whisper. Mean things, horrible things about Sehun, rumours of vampires and their dangers, warnings from their parents.

"Why do you spend so much time around him?" a classmate asks, the same one from the other day that had been mean. She's snobbish, scathing. Baekhyun doesn't know these words, but he knows he doesn't like her; glaring at her over his sandwich (smoked ham, cut into squares with the crusts gone).

"He's interesting," Baekhyun shrugs, trying to act cool. They're his friends, he thinks. He frowns but refuses to be weak. Sehun is his friend too now.

"Aren't you scared?"

"No." Baekhyun's frown deepens. "He's my friend."

"What if he hurts you?" his classmate insists, and Baekhyun wants to cry, appetite lost as he puts his sandwich down and forgets about it.

"He's my friend," Baekhyun says in sad confusion. "He won’t hurt me."

"If you say so," his classmate sneers, leaving him alone in the blue corner when she drags his other friends with her.

Sehun might be his only friend now.

***

Sehun's muzzle comes loose during reading time one Wednesday.

Baekhyun barely has enough time to appreciate the sound of Sehun's voice, loud and clear before he's on his back; scared eyes and small fangs loom over him.

"You smell good," Sehun says, and Baekhyun hates the way his voice shakes with fear. Baekhyun isn't scared. "I'm sorry."

Baekhyun doesn't get what he's sorry for, but a flash of pain ceases his thoughts, followed by a strange tingling niceness, and then Baekhyun passes out from shock.

Sehun's muzzle comes loose on a Wednesday, and he's removed from school on a Thursday.

"I told you so," Baekhyun's classmate says when he returns to class on Friday to no Sehun, puncture wounds fading and Hello Kitty bandaids placed carefully over the holes.

"He didn't mean to," Baekhyun tells her bravely. His teacher smiles from her desk when she overhears, though she watches them carefully. She's always been fond of Baekhyun.

"Why are you helping him?" she asks, demands. Disgust is etched onto her face, and Baekhyun hates her so much.

"Sehun is my friend," Baekhyun says, unaware he's raising his voice.

He's put into the quiet corner for the rest of the afternoon, though his teacher smiles at him, apologizes to him, tells him he's brave for standing up for his friend. She must be Sehun's friend too.

"When is Sehun coming back?" Baekhyun asks her, innocent wonder in his voice.

"I don't know sweetie," She answers, sounding sad as she ruffles his hair. "I don't know."

***

Sehun comes back two years later, still the same quiet boy, but now he lacks a muzzle and never smiles. Baekhyun doesn't know if Sehun ever did smile, but there's something sad about the way he slips into the classroom, slides into a chair in the very back corner and looks at the floor.

Baekhyun is ecstatic to see him, bounces on his heels and smiles brightly. He feels worry, but happiness. He hopes Sehun still wants to be his friend.

"Sehun!" he calls, weaving through desks of whispering third graders all the way to the back of the room.

Sehun cowers.

"It's you," Sehun says in a detached voice with a tinge of fear. Baekhyun is excited to be recognized, but he sags at Sehun's tone.

"I missed you," Baekhyun says, and he tries to say it gently, tries to sound detached and calm but he bursts into tears, staring at Sehun with round eyes. "I thought you were never coming back."

Sehun's eyes go wide, and he pulls Baekhyun into the seat next to him. He reaches out to touch his arm but pulls back too quickly, as if he's afraid to hurt Baekhyun.

"I'm back," Sehun says, and Baekhyun, through his tears smiles at the lisp. He can see now why Sehun has one, can see his tongue struggling with the syllables around his fangs. "You don't hate me?"

Baekhyun blinks, tears slowing in his shock.

"You were my friend," Baekhyun says, hiccuping. He hates the taste of salt on his tongue.

"I bit you," Sehun says, perplexed. "I could have hurt you."

"I liked it, I guess.It didn’t hurt?" Baekhyun admits with a shrug. He doesn't stay sad for long, reigns in his emotions quickly and efficiently, a skill someone his age shouldn't have. "Plus you said before that you couldn't help it, and I wasn't upset. I just wanted you to not leave."

"I didn't want to leave," Sehun says with still wide eyes, though his tone is calm. "I took a break. Until I was safe."

"You're safe now?"

Sehun nods, shushing Baekhyun as their teacher walks in. Baekhyun hopes they’re still friends.

***

The other students are still afraid of Sehun. When the bullying starts -- the names, the teasing, the others treating him with fear just because he's _different_ \-- Baekhyun defends Sehun.

"He's my friend," he says to the kids that threaten Sehun, that hurt him, that call him names.

"He's my friend," he says to the Principal when he's put in detention for pushing a classmate, when he gets a phone call home.

"He's my friend," he insists with tears in his eyes as his mother kisses him on the forehead and says goodnight. _It's okay baekhyunnie. You've done nothing wrong._

"You're my friend," Baekhyun tells Sehun everyday, blurts it out in the middle of a conversation about the newest Pokemon game.

"You're my best friend," Sehun replies quietly, _whispers_. He hangs his head low, hands shaking as if he's still afraid of rejection.

Baekhyun tackles him in a crushing hug, squeezes tight with his happiness.

"You're my best friend too, Sehunnie."

***

"Do I still smell good?" Baekhyun asks one day as they practice English letters. He's been thinking about it, that time five years prior when Sehun had bit him, had told him.

They're in the sixth grade now and still close as ever, sticking together through changing tastes and changing looks, through the very beginnings of growing into teenagers instead of kids.

"Yes," Sehun says with a blush, cheeks turning red. "Like vanilla."

"Vanilla tastes good," Baekhyun comments with a grin. _'He gets cheekier as he ages,' one teacher tells another, laughter into their coffee cups in the staffroom._

"I know," Sehun says mysteriously, though there's a hint of a smile on his face. Baekhyun loves it when Sehun smiles. It doesn't happen as often as it should. Sehun doesn't like his teeth, he's said. Baekhyun thinks they're wonderful.

"Will you ever bite me again?" Baekhyun asks seriously, and he reaches out curiously, pokes the end of Sehun's fangs with the tips of his fingers. He doesn't miss the way Sehun's nostrils flare.

"I'm not allowed," Sehun mutters, but his eyes are on Baekhyun's neck, eyes darkening as if transfixed. "Not until I turn twelve my Mother says."

"That's one year away," Baekhyun exclaims happily. He can wait. "I can wait."  
"Why do you want me to bite you?" Sehun asks with a frown, one that looks more like a comical pout on his pale face.

"I'm curious," Baekhyun says with a shrug. "Do I taste like vanilla then?"

"Yup," Sehun says, and it's with a note of finality, a kind of awkwardness Baekhyun doesn't understand.

"Will you one day?" Baekhyun asks, pushing just a little too far, draping himself across Sehun and ruining his perfect English sentences. "Please?"

"Next year."

***

The first year of middle school they're in different classes for the first time.  
Baekhyun pines, makes a show of whining at recess, of flopping all over himself dramatically at the lunch table.

"Sehunnie," He coos, pinching Sehun's cheeks and smiling widely. He's obnoxious now, loud, with long floppy hair and perfect, white teeth. "I missed you."

"You saw me four hours ago," Sehun deadpans, raising one eyebrow, but he too grins, one of the real ones that show his fangs.

The bullying is less in their new Junior High School. There are more vampires here, ones that flock to Sehun to initiate him into their group, friendly and welcoming. Baekhyun has to battle his jealousy, has to remind himself that it's good that Sehun's belonging, that it's good Sehun has someone when Baekhyun isn't there.

Except Baekhyun doesn't have anyone for himself. He befriends the other vampires- Jongdae and Chanyeol who arejust as loud as Baekhyun, just as obnoxious- but he doesn't have any friends in his own class.

It's not easy for Baekhyun to stay quiet, not easy for him to sit in a corner of the class quietly. He misses the constant of Sehun in his life, and he thinks about him while he's gone.

***

Baekhyun turns twelve, and then thirteen. He doesn't ask Sehun to bite him.

"It's a serious thing," Chanyeol says, voice cracking as it changes, height shooting up halfway through eighth grade. He’s still short, but he's taller than the rest of them now, taller than Jongdae and Baekhyun who haven't grown since the fifth grade.

"What's a serious thing?" Baekhyun asks as he sits down with his tray. Across from Sehun and beside Jongdae where he always sits. He wants to sit next to Sehun, wants to be close to him always, be his best friend, but Baekhyun is also growing self conscious, doesn't want to seem clingy.

"Feeding from humans," Jongdae explains to him. "It's like when you get your first kiss except it's a first bite."

"Oh," Baekhyun says with his mouth slightly open. He glances at Sehun to gauge his reaction, but Sehun's looking away from him, listening intently to Chanyeol and Jongdae's words.

"Sehun never grew up around other vampires so we're explaining what our culture is like," Chanyeol says with a giant grin, throwing his arm around Sehun.

Baekhyun feels a swoop of jealousy, but he doesn't understand where it's come from.

"I heard that it's important when you're older and can _do things,_ " Jongdae says with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows, causing Baekhyun and Sehun both to gag.

"Gross Jongdae," Chanyeol says, tossing a fry across the table. "We're not old enough for that yet."

Jongdae grins, fluttering his eyelashes back. "We're old enough for our first bites though, aren't we Yeol?"

Chanyeol goes bright red, eyes darting to the side and grin growing shy. "Why, are you offering?" He says teasingly, though it's weak.

"Ew, no," Jongdae says, scrunching up his nose and throwing a fry at Chanyeol now. Baekhyun eyes flicker to Chanyeol's face, watches the way it falls slightly.

He's yet to experience romantic feelings, yet to understand what Chanyeol feels, but he wonders if it's the same as when Sehun turns down his plans to go visit other vampires with Chanyeol and Jongdae.

Baekhyun just misses being Sehun's only friend, as selfish as it may seem.

***

"Remember when I wanted you to bite me?" Baekhyun asks Sehun when they're sitting on the floor of his tidy bedroom. It's the last day of the summer, and they're together for moral support. High school starts tomorrow. "I'm sorry about that."

"Why would you be sorry?" Sehun asks, and the way he looks at Baekhyun has him backpedaling, feeling guilty. "I always wanted to."

"I didn't realize it was such a big deal to vampires," Baekhyun admits. He hates admitting to faults, hates being anything but loud and cheery, constantly helping and healing. "I wouldn't have asked otherwise."

"I didn't know either," Sehun says with a shrug. He's fiddling on his flip phone, and Baekhyun can see the plastic joints fading, ready to break from wear. "And it's not really a big deal to me?"

"It isn't?"

Sehun shakes his head, pauses to check and respond to a text, probably from Jongdae or Chanyeol. They're waiting for them to arrive, to mourn the summer months together. "I didn't grow up with the same culture," Sehun says easily. "So it's not the big deal to me it is to them."

"We're turning fourteen soon," Baekhyun muses, grinning. "We're proper teenagers."

"We won't be proper teenagers until we're sixteen I think," Sehun says. He always sounds so serious about his words, so careful. His lisp is getting better though, helped through Jongdae's voice coaching.

Jongdae can sing well, knows how to work around the fangs, around the awkward jaw structure.

"Can you bite me still then?" Baekhyun asks, and there's something more than curiosity pulling him along now. He remembers back when they were young, when Sehun had been scared and Baekhyun had wanted to be that person for him, wanted to be that person he could bite and not feel hated.

"I could," Sehun says, and there's still that fear in his eyes, but Baekhyun can't tell what kind of fear it is now. "Not right now though," Sehun says with a look on his face that Baekhyun doesn’t understand. "Jongdae and Chanyeol are coming, and they'll make fun of me for giving my first bite to you."

"What's wrong with me?" Baekhyun pouts, flopping across Sehun's lap as he usually does, never giving a thought to how it may look, to the implications of their closer than normal friendship.

It makes sense that they're this close. They've always been there for each other, one for the other.

"Nothing," Sehun insists, throwing up his hands and looking defensive. "It's just because well... you're you, and they expect me to throw myself at the feet of some hot, tall football player next year."

Baekhyun wonders when Sehun started liking boys. Wonders when he'd forgotten to tell him.

"I'm good-looking," Baekhyun grumbles, sifting a hand through his own bangs, padding the folds of his hoodie flat. He's never thought about his looks before, never had a reason to. Now he can't stop thinking about, wonders if he'll ever grow tall and hot.

Baekhyun wonders if a tall, hot boy will ever want him.

Baekhyun wonders when he started liking boys.

***

Sehun bites Baekhyun for the first time while they're having a sleepover. They're fifteen now, on the edge of sixteen, almost proper teenagers, over halfway to adults.

They're curled up under Baekhyun's comfy blankets watching a superhero movie when Sehun groans loudly, wraps his arms around himself to bury his head in them.

"What's wrong?" Baekhyun asks, alarmed. The movie isn't sad, and Baekhyun hasn't farted or anything.

"I forgot to bring my boxes," Sehun murmurs quietly, looking awkward and stressed. Worried, nervous. "It's too far and too dark out to go back home for them now."

"How much do you need?" Baekhyun asks, and selfishly wonders if this is the time, if fate has intervened to finally feel what it's like to have Sehun feed from him. He's heard things about how it's like flying, how it's beautiful and lovely.

Baekhyun hopes he still tastes like vanilla.

"You can’t be--"

"You said you would," Baekhyun interrupts, impatient, bouncing as he rises to his knees in their blanket nest, places a hand on Sehun's arm. "Like, years ago. And you need to feed or else you'll get sick."

Sehun pouts. "Are you sure?" He asks quietly, nervously. "That whole first bite nonsense got to me a while ago, you know, and I don't want you to feel awkward."

"Sehun," Baekhyun says seriously, loudly, suddenly. He can't believe he'd forgotten, can't believe in the pools of 'again' that this isn't Sehun's first bite. "You bit me in the first grade."

"I bit you," Sehun nods, and then his eyes go wide, large circles of darkness with the hunger he must be feeling. "Oh my God. I've already had my first bite."

Baekhyun laughs, twinkling and nervous. "So, I'll be your second bite," he says comfortingly, playing with the sleeves of his hoodie, pushing his hair from his face. It's still floppy, but a nicer floppy, the kind girls fawn over.

Baekhyun doesn't like girls.

"That's better isn't it," Sehun says, sounding breathless, relieved. "Yes, that's much better."

"Is that why you wouldn't bite me before?" Baekhyun asks, and he can't help but to lean forward to brush Sehun's bangs away from his face. It feels weirdly intimate in the moment.

Baekhyun gulps, unsure of why he's suddenly nervous.

"I was worried," Sehun says in a near whisper, but he looks up at Baekhyun with a trusting smile on his face. "I shouldn't have been. It's just you."

"It's just me," Baekhyun grins, holding out his wrist. a less intimate place for Sehun to feed from. "C'mon."

Sehun hesitates, fingers cold as they grip Baekhyun's wrist. "This might feel weird?" He says in a questioning tone before he wraps his lips around Baekhyun's wrist. Sehun doesn't bite down just yet, but his lips are soft and warm against Baekhyun's skin, the tips of his fangs lightly scraping the veins.

Baekhyun shivers.

Sehun bites suddenly, fangs sinking into Baekhyun's wrist with such force that Baekhyun gasps, nearly wrenching his arm away from the sharp pain he feels, but it's gone so fast that he nearly forgets it was ever there.

Baekhyun gasps for another reason now, at the warmth that spreads from Sehun's mouth up his arm, around his entire body until he's tingling, hot. It feels better than he remembers, the feeling not unlike what he does to himself, but more intense, more pleasant. Baekhyun shifts, tries to press his wrist into Sehun's mouth, revels in the way Sehun's nails dig into his skin, holding his arm in place.

When Sehun pulls away, Baekhyun is breathing heavily, heart thudding fast in his heart and a problem growing. He flushes, scrambles away, covers himself with the blanket and brings his wrist to his lips to lick off the excess blood.

Baekhyun has never felt so embarrassed in his life, crossing his legs and willing the issue to just _go away._ He's still in a daze, pleasure tingling through his legs and low in his stomach.

"Is-- Is that--" Baekhyun stutters out, shocked by his own lack of words, by the nervousness that buries itself in his throat. "Is that normal?"

"Chanyeol warned me about that," Sehun says awkwardly. He's glowing, eyes large and dark, body thrumming with new energy. "He didn't tell me that -- wow, Baekhyun I feel _so alive._ "

"What kind of alive?" Baekhyun says warily, and he's still turned on, still unsure of himself, of Sehun.

"Like, different from juice box blood," Sehun says, and he's grinning. "Don't worry about your problem. It's your body reacting naturally. It happens."

"You're not like, horrified and scared off?" Baekhyun asks weakly, well aware of both their orientations, well aware that Sehun isn't into him like that.

Baekhyun still thinks they're both too young to date, anyways.

"Why would I be?" Sehun giggles, and suddenly it's like Baekhyun's been the shy one their entire lives, pressing his fingers into his mouth in a fit of anxiety, looking away. "You still taste like vanilla."

"Well if you ever--" Baekhyun pauses, licks his lips. He can still taste his own blood on the tip of his tongue, wonders what it's like to taste it as a vampire.

He's never had _that_ thought before. Though Baekhyun knows it's possible, knows the rules, the rituals, the art of a turned vampire versus a born vampire.

"If you ever want a better meal than your discount blood juice I'm always here," Baekhyun says in one breathy rush. "I'll just work on, reacting less."

"I think it's funny," Sehun says. "Baekhyun who never shows any interest in anyone else gets a boner from his best friend drinking his blood."

Baekhyun whines, akin to the way Jongdae does and throws a pillow at Sehun. "At least you're well-fed now," he mumbles in embarrassment before turning the movie back on.

He dreams about Sehun's fangs in his skin for an entire week.

***

Baekhyun forgets about that blooming fear of his feelings for Sehun, but he still reacts the same way when Sehun feeds from him. Embarrassingly so; flushed cheeks and accidental problems, cold showers and awkward coughing twitch fits.

Sehun remains uncaring, just laughs and tells their friends all about it. They've had new additions to their group of friends since turning sixteen, since making their way through the tenth grade.

Exams are soon, and soon they'll be in eleventh. Baekhyun still feels so young, doesn't feel like turning seventeen.

He's still the only human in their growing friend group, sometimes feels awkward and small and so very _normal_ when he's with them. But there's also a strange sense of protection being around beings much stronger, much more dangerous than himself.

Baekhyun's entourage.

He starts sticking their newest friend, Minseok, a senior with a gummy smile who makes Baekhyun feel like the perfect younger brother he's always wanted to be. They grow close, and for once Baekhyun understands what it's like to have another best friend that's just his own, not shared with Sehun.

(He loves Chanyeol and Jongdae very much, but they're both his and Sehun's best friends. It's different.)

Baekhyun rejects Minseok's questions of feeding from him, says he only trusts Sehun to do that. Minseok just laughs, says it's cute the way they are so close, so intimate.

"I'd think you were dating if I didn't know you," Minseok says one day as they bask in the sun on the steps outside their school, Minseok's arm thrown casually over his shoulder.

"Are we that kind of best friends?" Baekhyun says with a laugh. He's read on the internet that the true mark of best friendship is being mistaken for a gay couple.

"I think so," Minseok says with a smile and a cute scrunching of his nose. Baekhyun thinks he could be attracted to him if he tried.

_Why does he always hold back?_

"You guys are constantly together, even with the rest of the group," Minseok continues, and there's a fondness in his eyes. "Like you've been connected with a rope and can never be apart."

"We've known each other since Sehun was still teething," Baekhyun admits with a shrug, a kind of pride in his voice. "Sehunnie was my first friend."

"It's not often a teething vampire is around a human at that age," Minseok muses, looks curious. "You weren't afraid?"

"Well, he had a muzzle," Baekhyun says with a frown. He never liked the muzzle, remembers wanting to remove it forever. "And I was never scared. I remember I told him in the first grade he was allowed to bite me."

"And did he?"

"Well," Baekhyun says with a slight laugh. A nervous one. He's never told any of their friend group about the incident when they were kids, about Sehun being pulled from school. Neither has Sehun.

Baekhyun trusts Minseok though.

"His muzzle came off when we were kids and he bit me," Baekhyun says, and he doesn't miss the way Minseok's eyes widen slightly, the subtle shock at his story. "He was pulled from school for two years. Sometimes I still feel guilty about it."

"It wasn't your fault," Minseok assures him. It confuses Baekhyun; he's never received that reassurance before, never told anyone to warrant it. He's always just assumed it was his fault, and lived with the consequence. "A teething vampire will bite anyone near them. They're insatiable."

"He told me I smelled good and then jumped on me," Baekhyun says, playing with the ends of his hair. It's getting too long, even for his tastes.

"You smell like vanilla," Minseok says with a grin. "I would have jumped on you too."

"Please don't jump on me now," Baekhyun says with a playful voice, hands in the air in surrender. "I'm fragile."

Minseok pushes him gently, ruffles his hair. It reminds Baekhyun of his teacher who'd believed in Sehun too.

Baekhyun smiles to himself, the kind of smile one saves for the things they love.

"Take care of Sehun, okay?" Minseok tells him as they return to class, and Baekhyun can't find any of the playfulness he'd seen just moments ago. "You can't see your own feelings yet, and neither can he. But I can."

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun asks in confusion, though he thinks he does know what Minseok Means.. He gulps nervously and pushes those thoughts he always has back down.

Sehun is his friend.

"Just don't let anyone get hurt," Minseok shrugs. "I don't want to see a good friendship ruined by silence."

Baekhyun thinks about Minseok's words for a long time.

*** 

Baekhyun realizes he's in love with Sehun on a Wednesday.

It's a regular day like any other, except Baekhyun turns eighteen in a week, has a big party planned; the cool kind you see in movies with alcohol, kids from school, his pool full and ready.

Sehun is coming of course. As are Jongdae, Chanyeol, Minseok, other friends.

Baekhyun feels accomplished, turning eighteen, feels like so much of his life has gone by and yet none at all. Feels scared for graduation, for college, for the future he's unsure of. And it's in this moment of thought, of feeling for his future where he's sure it doesn't exist that Sehun arrives at their lunch table.

Baekhyun's there alone, having a free period before lunch, and he's not surprised to see Sehun, not surprised to see him infuriatingly taller than him now, a beanstalk in cute button ups and too-tight jeans.

It's when Sehun sits down beside him, hugs him and buries his head in Baekhyun's shoulder, whines in his ear that he's _thirsty_ and can he comes over after school? That Baekhyun realizes the one constant in his now unstable life.

Sehun.

"It's early dismissal today," Baekhyun hums aloud, swallows down the sudden emotion, the realization -- this isn't actually sudden, has been a long time coming, and he should've seen it. "We can go early, get that stupid essay assignment done."

"Thanks," Sehun says happily, and Baekhyun can feel Sehun's smile, can feel the contented sigh as Sehun's breath tickles his neck. "You're the best."

"Are we interrupting something?" A booming, deep voice asks, and Baekhyun twitches in irritation. He rarely likes the quiet, but just then it had felt like paradise.

"Sehun is just clingy," Baekhyun laughs, smirks, pushes Sehun off him and onto Chanyeol as he sits down on their side.

"Sehun's always been clingy," Jongdae says, and he doesn't comment on the redness of Baekhyun's cheeks, the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

Minseok gives Baekhyun a knowing look, calculated and threatening across the table. Baekhyun stares back with a hopefully level gaze, tries to convey the _I'm trying, I know_ , because now he fully understands Minseok's words.

It had been so long ago too, and Baekhyun feels so dumb.

***

Baekhyun doesn't mean to confess the way he does.

Except tonight Sehun wants to feed from his neck, wants to do things properly, and Baekhyun's wrist hangs limp at his side as Sehun practically straddles him. The scent of his cologne is nearly overpowering, the weight of his legs making Baekhyun feel suffocated, trapped almost.

Sehun is so close like this, eyelashes long, and eyes dark. His skin is pale, smooth but his lips are pink, beautiful, and Baekhyun suddenly wants to reach out and touch. Baekhyun's hand moves of it's own accord, but he pulls back last moment, cursing himself.

_He’s my friend,_ Baekhyun thinks, and he’s right. Sehun is his friend, his _best friend_. And Baekhyun, who’s known Sehun since he was a teething tiny vampire, knows that he shouldn’t be feeling _this way_ about someone that’s just a friend.

Sehun bites down softly at first, a test bite just like the first time he'd fed from Baekhyun's wrist, and Baekhyun suppresses a moan, feeling just as embarrassed as that time, just as sheepish. "Get on with it," He mutters quietly, wanting to get it over with, trying not to enjoy the way Sehun's hands slide up his arms, come to rest on his shoulders, trying not to enjoy the way Sehun tilts his head, mouth kissing close.

Baekhyun hates this. Hates that once he's realized everything is so much worse. His bodily responses, the quickening of his heart, the breathlessness that takes over.

When Sehun sinks his fangs in, the pleasure is ten times what it's always been, sparks up and down Baekhyun's body, causing him to gasp, grip Sehun's arms too tightly. He fights the need to push his hips up against Sehun's, but he can't help himself, can't help the whine that spills from his hips, the hardness between his thighs.

Sehun pulls away too quickly, and Baekhyun moans at the loss of his fangs, gasping for breath as he chases Sehun's mouth, grips him by the back of his neck and licks the blood that trails down his chin, kisses him hard.

Sehun doesn't kiss him back.

He does push Baekhyun off, looks alarmed, scared, unsure.

"I didn't realize you would--" Sehun stutters, stops, rocks back and forth. "I didn't realize you'd react that strongly. Wow. I'm sorry. I--"

"Kiss me," Baekhyun interrupts, and he feels slightly faint from the blood loss, turned on and shaking. "Sehun it's not just the bite- it's you."

"I don't understand," Sehun says quietly, but the way his eyes are looking anywhere but at Baekhyun tells Baekhyun that he does, that he understand quite clearly.

"I'm in love with you," Baekhyun says bravely, without tact. He never learned as a kid, never learned to not be honest, loud, never learned how to hold back. He doesn't want to now, doesn't want to hold anything from Sehun. "I think I have been for a while."

"You can't be," Sehun says in disbelief. He turns away from Baekhyun, gets to his feet. With Baekhyun sitting he towers over him, looks down at him and shakes his head. "You're my best friend, you can't be."

Baekhyun feels tiny.

He stands too, takes a step towards Sehun with a frown on his features. "I'm sorry," he tries. "I didn't mean to, it just happened. I'm not sorry though. You've been my constant my whole life."

"Baekhyun, no," Sehun says, and his eyes are wide, reminding Baekhyun of the third grade, when Sehun had been so scared, had thought Baekhyun would hate him. "You can't."

"I'm sorry," Baekhyun whispers. He hadn't expected this, had been too confident, too sure. It'd always been him and Sehun, and it always should be, right?

"No, I'm sorry," Sehun says, and then he's gone out Baekhyun's front door.

Baekhyun worries. He's never liked Sehun taking the long walk home after dark. Not in their neighbourhood.

The floor feels cold against Baekhyun's back, but he welcomes it, welcomes the glittering stars on his ceiling that he'd stuck there as a kid, that he'd never taken down. Sehun had liked them too much.

They're fading now, and the tears spill down Baekhyun's cheeks as he grabs his phone to call Minseok.

Baekhyun realizes he's in love with Sehun on a Wednesday, but Sehun rejects him on a Thursday.

***

Sehun realizes he's in love with Baekhyun when they're fourteen. He's sure he always has been, just hasn't been able to attribute it to romantic love, hasn't been able to put his finger on it until now.

Baekhyun, he's always been there. A smiling face in Sehun's sadness and confusion, someone without fear, without doubt, that could lead Sehun through anything and everything.

And he's still that person, always that person, even when Sehun finally bites him, when Baekhyun has the reaction Sehun has secretly wanted, but secretly feared.

He doesn't tell Baekhyun that it's not normal, that one only reacts like that to a vampire's bite if they're sexually attracted, if they're in love. Sehun is sure Baekhyun doesn't realize he's even attracted yet, tells him that Baekhyun's body is reacting normally to the feeding, shakes it off with laughter.

Thinks about it for the next week, month, year.

It continues; the feeding, the best friends, Baekhyun's interest and yet disinterest. He gets too close to Minseok and Sehun, he tells Minseok, warns him off.

_My human._

And it's then that Minseok explains to him the implications of a human-vampire relationship, tells him of the laws he needs to follow.

All Sehun can think of is the bullying, the pain, the want to be anything but himself, and he can't imagine ever doing that to Baekhyun, ever forcing him into a world he doesn't need just because they're in love.

So Sehun pushes down the feelings, forces them to stay at the bottom of his heart. It's excruciating from that point on, the pain in his chest, the way every casual touch, every thousand-watt smile Baekhyun sends his way makes every fibre of himself feel like it's tearing apart.

Sehun wants to hate Baekhyun.

But he doesn't, and he cages himself, learns to hate the smell, taste of vanilla, except during feeding when he can't help it, has to hold himself back from taking too much, from confessing, from turning Baekhyun.

Sehun manages to keep everything closed until just before they turn eighteen, when he can't hold back anymore, wants to sink himself deep into Baekhyun's neck, taste the blood and feels Baekhyun's skin against his lips.

Baekhyun complies easily, gives Sehun a strange look. He's been acting strange all week, and Sehun feels that flutter in his chest, feels the way Baekhyun holds on longer, looks at him with a stronger look.

Sehun doesn't want him to.

His fears are confirmed when Baekhyun tries to kiss him, when Baekhyun confesses, and it breaks Sehun's heart to break Baekhyun's. Guilt sears through him as he walks home, as he tugs his hoodie up past his mouth and sobs into the material.

Baekhyun's done so much for him, has helped him through the toughest of times. His anchor, his everything, the blossoming sunshine that bursts through the bleak self-hatred Sehun had tried to shed in middle school.

And he knows; he knows that Baekhyun would say yes, that Baekhyun would want to be changed just to be with him properly, just to love him. He's always been that kind of person, selfless, loving, just wanting Sehun's happiness.

That's why Sehun can't do it.

***

Baekhyun doesn't go to school on Friday.

Or Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday.

_i'm sick_ , he texts Minseok, Jongdae. _tell the others_

He doesn't send the message he wants to, doesn't tell them to take care of Sehun.

Baekhyun doesn't understand. Its been a long time since Baekhyun hasn’t understood, and he doesn’t like it. He’s used to being the smart one, the charismatic one. Baekhyun doesn't burrow under his covers depressed, Baekhyun doesn't skip meals, and Baekhyun definitely doesn't pine.

It's okay, Baekhyun doesn't really feel like himself anyways. He can't cope, really. Can't wrap his head around the fact that he might not have Sehun anymore. He feels selfish, stupid. Remembers Minseok's words.

_I don’t want to see a good friendship ruined_

Baekhyun's had Sehun his whole life, they've been best friends since as long as Baekhyun can remember, and he's thrown it away for his hormones, for something he could have just kept secret.

Baekhyun doesn't care if they get together, doesn't care if Sehun kisses him back. Baekhyun just wants his best friend.

Baekhyun goes to school on Thursday, hair unstyled, three day old hoodie clinging to him. He goes through class like a zombie, sits at a different table at lunch.

The small one in the corner where no one goes. He hopes the others don't see him, hopes he can hide in peace.

That doesn't last long when Baekhyun feels the chair across from him scrape quietly, hears someone sit down. He doesn't look up.

"Baekhyun."

He's expecting it to be Minseok, always looking out for Sehun, expects him to be angry, wanting to smite him for harming his dongsaeng vampire, but it's Jongdae.

Baekhyun looks up.

"Yes?"

Jongdae looks passive, serious, normally smiling mouth turned down at the corners just a bit, just enough for Baekhyun to worry, for Baekhyun to feel more guilt course through him. His friends are suffering too, and it's his fault.

"Come sit with us," Jongdae says, reaching across the table to take Baekhyun's hand, to tug him forward until his ribs hit the table and ache.

"I can't," Baekhyun says with a frown, pulls his hand back. He feels childish, but he can't help it, can't stop picturing the awkwardness, the dislike on Sehun's face, on Minseok's face. "I can't."

"Sehun wants to talk to you," Jongdae prods, and he frowns more now, looks genuinely worried. "Please."

"He can come get me himself," Baekhyun snaps, feels suffocated by the confrontation. "I've done nothing wrong."

"You had bad timing," Jongdae says in a low voice, one laced with the kind of warning only a vampire has. "Vampires are emotionally weak during feedings, you know."

"No one tells me these things," Baekhyun says in a hushed voice, looks at the table top. He itches to reach out and trace the pencil lines with his fingertip, to bring order into the chaos of his emotion.

"He's scared," Jongdae says, continues on in that same voice. "He does like you, but there are laws."

"What laws?" Baekhyun asks, and there's a hope there, a spark in his eyes. _He does like you_.

"He can explain," Jongdae shrugs, standing up. He holds out a hand, offers it to Baekhyun. Baekhyun feels as though he can't reject it. "Just talk to him."

"Where?" Baekhyun asks weakly, shuffles his feet and refuses to look at Jongdae.

"Library."

 

Baekhyun nods. He owes Sehun this talk because he is the one that messed up, is the one that ruined everything.

Sehun is, above all else, his friend.

***

"I'm sorry," is the first thing that comes out of Sehun's mouth when Baekhyun turns the corner into the library. "I--"

"Do you hate me?" Baekhyun blurts out, interrupts like he always does, desperation in his voice now that they're together, now that Sehun is standing in front of him.

"No," Sehun says, and there's a quiver in his voice. He's about to cry, Baekhyun realizes a second too late, and his arms are suddenly full of a sobbing Sehun, too big to hug him properly from this angle, too big to act so small.

Baekhyun sits down, brings Sehun with him, cradles him. "I'm sorry," Baekhyun says, and he wants to cry too, but this whole thing feels dramatic, dumb, _his fault._ "I didn't mean to ruin our friendship, I can -- I just want to be your friend."

"No," Sehun says, protests, and he's turning in Baekhyun's lap, looking at him intently, the same look he used to give him when they were kids; adoring, loving, but more intense, more serious. "I don't want to just be your friend."

"What do you want to be?"

"Everything?" Sehun says hesitantly, and it's a movie worthy line, one that Baekhyun would laugh at if Sehun wasn't still crying, if he wasn't desperate for his best friend back.

"What's wrong then?" Baekhyun asks softly. He feels more himself now, falls into his role of taking care of his friend, of helping his Sehun through everything.

"The laws," Sehun says, and he sits up straighter, cheeks stained with tears and eyes wide.

He's beautiful.

"You're human," Sehun explains, hiccuping through his sobs, chest heaving but breaths calming, less intense. "We can't be together unless you're a vampire."

"Then turn me," Baekhyun says. "I don't-- it's fine if you do."

"I knew you'd say that," Sehun croaks, and Baekhyun wants to make it better, wants to fix. He can't handle the idea that it's his fault Sehun is like this. "But -- I can't make you what I am. I can’t let you suffer through the prejudice and the hunger and the--"

"I'll have you," Baekhyun says simply, cutting Sehun off with his gentle words, the soft spoken voice he only ever uses around Sehun, to soothe. "And the others. I don't care what people think about me."

"But I do," Sehun squeaks, nearly too quiet for Baekhyun to hear. "You've done so much for me my entire life, and I could never see you h--"

"I love you," Baekhyun says sharply. "And that's that."

"I-- I love you too," Sehun responds, and he sounds so sure about it that Baekhyun's stomach lurches, arms winding tighter around Sehun's waist.

"Then let's do this together," Baekhyun is sure of himself now. Sure of his words. "We've always done it together."

Sehun stays still, silent for a long time, seemingly deep in thought, but Baekhyun waits. He could wait a lifetime.

"Okay," Sehun finally says, nods his head and looks at Baekhyun with shining eyes. "Okay."

"We'll be okay?" Baekhyun asks, for finality, for extra surety.

Sehun smiles, fangs glinting in the yellow library light. Baekhyun's always been fascinated by them.

"I've always wanted to know what your blood would smell like if I was a vampire," Baekhyun admits into the hush of the shelves, the books that block out the noise as if they're alone in the entire school.

"We could find out," Sehun says weakly, and he leans up in Baekhyun's arms, turns to face him fully. He looks down at Baekhyun from this angle, but Baekhyun doesn't mind, just grins the toothy grin he does whenever he's with Sehun.

The one he saves for things he loves.

"Kiss me?" Sehun asks, and Baekhyun laughs at how easy it suddenly feels, kissing Sehun gently, and then properly. He traces his tongue around Sehun's fangs, intrigued and only slightly turned on by the way they scrape gently against him.

Sehun has always been more than just Baekhyun's friend.

*** Epilogue *** 

Sehun turns Baekhyun the week after they graduate.

It's not planned, a regular Wednesday, Baekhyun lounging on Sehun's bed half dressed, Sehun curled around his stomach like an octopus.

"Thirsty," Sehun mumbles, and Baekhyun laughs.

"Thirsty or horny?" He teases, just for the way Sehun pouts, for the way he pulls at the band of Baekhyun's sweatpants from behind.

"Please," Sehun whines, and then after a pause adds. "Can I--"

"Can you?" Baekhyun asks, rolling to face Sehun, sliding his palms up Sehun's chest, one resting at his shoulder, the other on his cheek.

"Can I top?" Sehun sputters, and Baekhyun laughs again, cheerful, twinkling.

"I thought you'd never ask something like that," Baekhyun says with impatience, turned on by the thought of Sehun's long fingers inside him, Sehun's teeth buried in his neck as he thrusts. "Do it."

Sehun purrs, kissing Baekhyun with a kid of force, limbs tangling and tongues clashing until Baekhyun finds himself on his back, Sehun's hips rolling down into his own. He gasps out loud, not used to Sehun acting this way, not used to the feeling of being pinned down.

He loves it.

"Gonna bite me yet?" Baekhyun asks, voice purposely breathy, just in the way that always has Sehun's breath hitching, always has him whining.

"Not yet," Sehun says, before leaning down to kiss Baekhyun, slow, loving, fangs digging into Baekhyun's bottom lip teasingly before he's pulling back, tugging lightly. Baekhyun's used to leading their kisses, used to controlling the flow, but now that he's following everything is sudden, surprising.

"Do you want me to stretch myself?" Baekhyun gasps out when Sehun finishes assaulting his mouth, moves to his throat where he again presses his fangs to skin gently, teasing. Baekhyun thrashes when Sehun grinds down, scrapes teeth not-so-gently across his collarbone, tongue hot against the light scratches.

"Give me a show?" Sehun asks, pulling away from Baekhyun's chest with a grin, fingers playing with the ties on Baekhyun's pants.

"You want one?" Baekhyun asks, and they're trading the teasing tone, playing push and pull even while Baekhyun's hips rut up into Sehun's sudden touch, long, cold fingers closing lightly around his cock.

Sehun strokes him gently, not enough pressure to be relieving, and Baekhyun moans, pushes his hips up further, _needs_.

"Lube?" He manages to get out, whining when Sehun stops stroking to look for it, bottle pressed into his hands with urgency.

"Hurry," Sehun says, and he's not teasing anymore, eyes dark and hungry, skin vibrating with the need to feed. "I need to drink."

"Drink as much as you need," Baekhyun moans out as he coats his fingers, presses the first one in with ease. He's used to doing this to himself, used to the way his muscles clench and unclench around the familiar warmth of his fingers.

He hopes Sehun doesn't miss the undercurrent in his words.

"Yes," Sehun says, and he's getting impatient, coating himself with the lube, moving behind Baekhyun. He pauses when Baekhyun adds a third finger, when his hips lift off the bed with whimpers falling from parted lips when Baekhyun finds his prostate, massages it. "Do you want to face me?"

"Please," Baekhyun says, _whines_ , little filthy noises as he flips himself over, pulls his knees to his chest. Baekhyun is vocal, filled with need, holds no shame.

"You're eager for this," Sehun murmurs, and Baekhyun gets the feel that he's nervous somehow, too used to being taken care of to properly lead.

"Come on then," Baekhyun rasps, husky and wrecked from himself, from seeing Sehun hover over top of him, hands sliding up Baekhyun's thighs with careful surety. "Fuck me."

Sehun bites him in the same moment he pushes in, shocking long, drawn out moan from Baekhyun. His body fills with the pleasure, distracted from the pain of adjustment by the faint, beautiful feeling of blood being drawn, vision blurring.

Sehun thrusts quick, hard, hand wrapped around Baekhyun from the beginning. The stimulation is nearly too much, Baekhyun crying out, fingers scrambling for sheets, for a pillow, for Sehun's shoulder blades.

He's waiting for Sehun to pull away from his neck, for him to finish off Baekhyun at a slower pace, desperation of feeding gone, but Sehun doesn't stop, continues to draw blood, to thrust the same amount, Baekhyun lifting off the bed.

It's too much and Baekhyun moans as he comes, pushes Sehun away from his neck. "S-Sehun," He gasps out, nearly blacking out from the build of pleasure that doesn't seem to stop as Sehun fucks him through it, as the feeling of just too much blood loss makes his head dizzy, light.

"Oh my God," Sehun gets out, and he's collapsing on top of Baekhyun, nosing at his neck like a dog before lapping up his mess, gasping in some kind of fear. Baekhyun feels lethargic, unable to keep his eyes open, but he struggles through the heaviness in his limbs to look up at Sehun with half-lidded eyes.

"You okay?" Baekhyun says softly, worry etching its way in when Sehun goes rigid, buries himself in Baekhyun's neck like he used to do in high school when he was having a bad day. "Hey, hey what's wrong."

"I took too much blood," Sehun says, and he sounds terrified. "You wanted to plan this -- I'm sorry it wasn't supposed to be now but I need to--"

"You need to change me?" Baekhyun finishes, and it's probably the lack of blood but he feels strangely calm about this, floating in and out of consciousness with the warm, safe weight of Sehun on top of him. "Is ‘kay," He murmurs. "Were gonna do it anyways, yeah?"

"Okay," Sehun breathes out. "You remember the rules for when you wake up?"

"Feed immediately?" Baekhyun says weakly, and he can his limbs going numb, body weakening as Sehun sinks his fangs in again, gingerly, tenderly. It's bliss.

Baekhyun moans faintly before he passes out.

When Baekhyun awakens, it’s on a Thursday. He finds out that Sehun's blood tastes rather like taro bubble tea, and he can't get enough.


End file.
